When comparing CryptoStorm vs Private Internet Access, the Slant community recommends Private Internet Access for most people. In the question“What is the best VPN provider? ”Private Internet Access is ranked 1st while CryptoStorm is ranked 38th. The most important reason people chose Private Internet Access is:

For a single year of service the total cost is $39.95, which comes out to $3.33 per month. Making Private Internet Access one of the cheapest providers of VPN services on the net.

Pros

Pro

Accepts Cryptocurrency

Pro

No logs kept

No logs kept. No account information. No way to enforce Terms of Service.

Pro

Privacy Seppuku

Will commit corporate seppuku (similar to Lavabit) if no other option exists to protect user privacy.

Pro

Token Based Authentication

No single entity in charge of accepting payments for services (decentralized payments).No account information stored.User name is Hashed Token.Can buy from Resellers to further distance purchase from VPN provider.

Pro

Strong Encryption

256 bit AES + SHA512

Pro

Jurisdiction: Iceland

Non-US Based.Not required by law to keep logs.Privacy protections of Iceland.

Pro

Open Source Client

Custom Open Source Client available to set up VPN connection. Other methods, including OpenVPN, etc., exist as well.

Pro

Cheap

For a single year of service the total cost is $39.95, which comes out to $3.33 per month. Making Private Internet Access one of the cheapest providers of VPN services on the net.

Pro

Disconnects internet if VPN drops

If the VPN goes out, the internet will be disconnected so users will be protected from browsing without protection.

Pro

P2P/Torrent service included

All users are able to access P2P networks without having to download a 3rd party client. Private Internet Access uses separate VPN gateways for browsing and P2P access, so both are optimized without interfering with each other.

Pro

Multiple layers of security

Pro

Multiple OS compatibility

Private Internet Access is compatible with MacOS X and iOS, without having to use a third party client. It also works on Windows, Android, Linux & more. In total, Private Internet Access is compatible with almost 40 operating systems.

Pro

No traffic or protocol restricitions

You can use any and all protocols at your disposal, no traffic is restricted.

Pro

Use multiple devices

Private Internet Access allows for up to 5 devices in use simultaneously.

Pro

Instant setup

When you sign up, you will instantly get a user id and a password to use in their provided software (Windows and Macintosh) and they have tutorials and FAQs for Android, iPhone, Linux and other devices such as routers.

Pro

Excellent service

They are very eager to answer any questions that you may have.

Pro

Multiple VPN gateways

You can pick where you will appear to be from: the US (multiple), Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Romania, Canada, or Hong Kong.

Pro

Multiple payment options

Payments are accepted through Bitcoin, Ripple, PayPal, Google Play (Mobile), OKPay, CashU, Amazon and any major Gift Card.

Pro

No logs are kept

We absolutely do not maintain any VPN logs of any kind. We utilize shared IP addresses rather than dynamic or static IPs, so it is not possible to match a user to an external IP.

According to Private Internet Access in 2014:

We absolutely do not log any traffic nor session data of any kind, period. We have worked hard to meticulously fork all daemons that we utilize in order to achieve this functionality.

Cons

No cons yet!

Con

Based in the USA

Private Internet Access is based in the United States of America and can subject to a gag order, so basically the NSA can do whatever they want without PIA telling their customers what the NSA is doing.

Con

No free version

While they offer a variety of payment plans and payment methods, a free version of this service is not available to users.

Con

Non Transparent "Proprietary Method" to detect violators of Terms of Service (ToS).

When asking a Customer Service Representative, how violators of ToS are detected, the CSR stated "Proprietary Methods." When asked for clarification, was referred to Legal Department.